Quick Links

A Closer Look Sharpening and usi ng BY BRIAN BOGGS I started using scrapers more than 20 years ago, and I'm still learning some of their nuances. But I'm convinced they are essential tools for woodworkers. Card scrapers are ideal for lightly cleaning up areas of torn or gnarly wood that no other tool can deal with. This is not to say that scrapers cut better than planes; they seldom do. On really difficult grain, though, a scraper can finish a surface where almost any smoothing plane will need follow-up work. Scrapers range in thickness from 0.016 in. (0.4 mm) to 0.042 in. (1 mm). I prefer to use 0.032-in. (0.8-mm) scrapers. The 0.020-in. (O.5-mm) and thinner scrapers flex nicely to smooth out hollows, but they make it harder to maintain a flat surface. With thick scrapers, it is easy to gouge a groove in the wood with the corners, but for heavier work, their stiffness is a virtue. How a card scraper works Scrapers and planes both attempt to do the same thing: CLlt wood without tearing the surface (see the drawings at right). Planes do this with the edge of a sharp blade and a separate part called a chipbreaker. Scrapers cut with a burr edge, and the face of the scraper acts as the chipbreaker. As the shaving forms, it immediately encounters the near vertical face of the scraper. Before the shaving can lift off the workpiece, it is compressed between the uncut wood ahead of the Watch it on the Web 26 To see a video of the author preparing a card scraper, go to www.finewoodworking.com. FINE WOODWORKING Photos: Mark Schofield On a plane, the chipbreaker acts as the compression paint, which is considerably farther from the cutting point than on a scraper. PLANE BLADE The face of a scraper acts as the compression point and is just behind the burr's cutting point. SCRAPER